The Science

At Persuasion Under Pressure we're interested in how the brain makes its choices, and how we might best go about influencing those choices. Some of the most exciting work we've found in this realm have originated in the field of Cognitive Science.

Cognitive Scientists look at the brain from an engineering perspective. They consider the types of problems the brain typically needs to solve, and then they attempt to "reverse engineer" the existence of special mental capabilities designed to solve them. It's all very practical. And over the past 20 years or so, they've uncovered some wondrous things.

Yet, these insights have largely yet to filter into the mainstream. It must be said that Behavioral Economics has been a huge beneficiary of the work of cognitive science. But for the rest of us, there has been very limited success in translating these practical insights into how your brain actually makes choices into terms that are human-friendly. Which is to say that these important concepts have yet to be made actionable. This is in no small part because - let's be fair - the ideas are a little difficult, somewhat mind-bending, and often counter-intuitive. Just the sorts of ideas that, if mastered, can give you competitive advantage.

For example, if we asked, "What are emotions for?" you probably wouldn't have a particularly sharp answer ready, would you? Which is kind of astonishing, if you think about it. We float through a world flush with emotion. Most people, most of the time, especially under pressure, their decision-making is absolutely driven by it. And yet the emotions that suffuse our social environment are all but invisible to us, we take them for granted. Except, of course, when we are reactive to them. Then they drive our own decision-making. That usually doesn't go so well.

Without facing up to the emotions that drive conflict as facts - as things that exist in the real world - how can we intelligently strategize around them? How can we outperform? It seems obvious that the person who could do that seamlessly would have an unmistakable advantage, no? 

Persuasion Under Pressure cracks the code on explaining the engineering of human decision-making, the design function of human emotions. We make it comprehensible, actionable, and even fun. This is not just useful for making you sound smart at dinner parties. The result is a change in the way you see the world unfolding in front of you. You become less subject to being drawn into unproductive conflict, more likely to consider your options. And it makes room - for the first time - for taking an informed, robust, strategic approach to reducing conflict, to conveying ideas compellingly, to being persuasive.

Once you've mastered this basis of understanding that no one else has, what shall we do with it? We will apply Un-Common Sense.